When I was seven years old, I had a loyal best friend. We were thick as thieves: up and down the stairs, sprawled out in my room, or even at the dinner table. This friend was an old soul: weathered and full of secrets.

This friend was a soft-bound leather briefcase.

In this tote, I carried my papers. So many papers. Lined paper, unlined paper, graph paper. I would pull the papers out at dinner, shuffling them around into various piles, and then put them purposefully back into the case.

I was a business, man.

This passion for business took me through a variety of entrepreneurial ventures — some roaringly successful, others less so. From hawking alcoholic ice pops in Switzerland to covering news for niche communities and running restaurants, I’ve experienced my own fair share of the entrepreneurial roller coaster. Each of the bright highs and intense lows leaving its own indelible mark on my world view.

Within this journey, there’s nuance and flavor that defines much of the business world today. After all, every business was once a seed planted by a visionary who wanted to solve a problem and make the world just that much better.

I respect the entrepreneurial journey.

I also greatly respect the tnooz brand. As many of you know, I was a reporter and global events lead for several years ending back in 2015. I was smitten with the opportunity to work at the intersection of my three core passions: media, travel, and business.

I came back to fuse my own unique entrepreneurial DNA into the existing fabric of trust, respect, and love that tnooz engenders. Our readers are passionate and uncompromising. Our readers have high expectations.

And thus, so shall we.

Yours truly soaking up the Venice vibes. Travel truly does run deep — as does a deep curiosity for the world around us.

At its core, tnooz has always been about deep, technical analysis of the travel and hospitality industries. Talking travel tech meant not just covering the news but going behind the news by pursuing the why. Why does this news matter? Why should our readers care about this or that trend report? Why does this data apply to the industry?

This next era of tnooz puts the why at its core.

We take a relationships-first approach to our editorial. We look for the relevant relationships by exploring the gray areas between subjects, by connecting the dots, and by using data to deliver the most comprehensive analysis.

We also put our personal relationships first. We’re not the place for ‘gotcha journalism’ or biased perspectives or for bullies. We are a friendly, inclusive, and warm community that challenges our peers to think deeply about topics that matter most to our industry.

We are a place to discuss real opinions in real-time for the real world. The future is exciting — and we’ll be there looking ahead — but we all have businesses to run today. Our content must reflect the most pressing business priorities, probe all perspectives, and influence which decisions are the right ones.

We plan to do this in real-time, using data and analysis to be the brightest, most reliable source of information in the travel and hospitality industries. We are the editorial layer that spreads across the universe: all channels, all forms of media, all regions.

With that, I make you a promise.

We won’t resort to imitation or sensationalism. We will be tough but fair. We will filter noise from the signal. We will lead the conversation through our unique lens. We will focus on the now with a relentless curiosity. We will deliver rapid results for your time invested. Whether it’s reading an article, watching a video, or listening to a podcast, you should get value such as a smile, a flash of inspiration, or a piece of information that moves your business or career forward.

We promise to deliver.

We’re never going to be perfect. And we’ve got plenty of work to do. But that’s our promise, and that’s our benchmark. Let me know how we’re doing at anytime: talktonick@tnooz.com.

Thanks for joining us on the journey so far. We’re looking forward to taking these next steps with you. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for our newsletter.

See you somewhere in the world very soon,

Nick Vivion, Editor-in-Chief

About our new brand

Eight years ago, tnooz was founded with a vision to bring deeper analysis to travel media through a digital-only platform. Today, tnooz has built a global audience that is made up travel and hospitality professionals across a variety of roles. A recent audience survey found that 33 percent of our readers are in executive management. This is quite the accomplishment — and it’s something that we took into consideration with our new logo.

The treatment is simple and direct. We’ve brought the brand forward with the curvature of the individual letters while tying back to our original logo with the red “t” as the primary anchor. If you’re not seeing the new brand look, please refresh your cache!

Art Hardie, founding partner and Chief Creative Officer for Lawson + Rose, the agency that spearheaded the new branding explains further:

“As with any good brand identity and logo, there’s thought and creative strategy driving the design. So with the new logo, we immediately see a bold red “t” kicking off the name, since travel is the world the brand inhabits. And on the last letter “z” – which itself creates a buzzing sound – there’s a pulse that emanates from the corner, representing news and technology. Is it a satellite? Is it a WiFi signal? Is it a broadcast? Those are all relevant and suggest the many ways that tnooz engages with the world.”

To the tnooz team, the pulse icon symbolises two things: 1) our essential task of filtering signal from the noise, and 2) our position as a signal provider ourselves. We know that our loyal readers rely on us to be both the filter and the signal itself. We synthesize information from sources across all media, regions and channels. And then we also become a signal ourselves, where travel professionals can tune directly into the brightest industry analysis.

A strong signal reaches furthest.

What’s next for the brand

The brand refresh is just the beginning. We know that our site has grown stale over the years. That all ends today. We’re inspired by the cultures of continuous improvement in many of the companies we cover. We believe that “done” is no longer an option in today’s kinetic world. Test and learn. Adapt or die.

The reality is that we have our work cut out for us. We’ve prioritized our resources and will be knocking things out, one by one. Plan the work, work the plan. Here’s what you can expect to see in the coming months:

• New design for tnooz.com. A redesign that is more user-friendly with content that’s easier to consume. We will introduce a broader selection of content types, as well as more active ways to consume the content you are most interested in.
• New products that bring our editorial perspective into a wider variety of forums. We are the editorial layer, ready to spread across new channels and outlets.
• Editorial layer. A re-dedicated focus on editorial excellence will emphasize our unique position as the editorial layer across the travel and hospitality industries. Look out for new ways to explore our content archive, as we look to redefine how information is presented.
• Quality versus quantity. The news is great — but exploring what’s behind the news is even greater. Tnooz will continue to be the place for deep analyses of the travel and hospitality businesses.

As always, feedback, perspectives and good old-fashioned letters to the editor welcomed: talktonick@tnooz.com. For commercial inquiries related to our current or emerging product offering, please tell us a bit more about you below. We’ll be in touch post-haste!

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